Face-to-face Conversations and Social Media
When you are communicating with people, what method do you prefer, face-to-face conversations or social media? Thanks to technology improvement, there are some significant changes in interpersonal communication. It changes the way we interact or communicate with others. Because social media become more and more popular nowadays, we start to depend on social media instead of face-to-face communication. Face-to-face conversations and social media hold a big part in our daily life; however, are social media really better than face-to-face communication?
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Social media are convenient for communication, nevertheless, face-to-face conversation is an efficient way that can see other’s reaction immediately. On the contrary, it takes time to wait for other people’s responses when using social media. When we are discussing an important assignment or event, it’s more efficient to discuss face-to-face instead of using social media. For instance, it might take the whole day to use messages in order to deal with a task that could be handled in two minutes in person. Consequently, face-to-face conversation is most suitable for discussion because people can get immediate feedback from the listeners.
By using face-to-face conversations, we can realize other’s feelings clearly; however, we can only judge from the messages when using social media. Nonverbal and visual communication, such as body languages as well as eye contacts, are essential because it’s only possible in face-to-face conversations. As a matter of fact, the nonverbal conversation is regarded as an important way to judge the feeling or the opinion of the speaker. However, it’s impossible to have nonverbal communication while typing messages through social media. Thus, we sometimes have misunderstandings about the texts.
We often use interesting Internet slang to shorter the time about texting and even become a sensation when using social media; however, people tend to forget the fact that English grammar is neglected while using it online. We get used to using a lot of word abbreviations as well as the Internet slangs; however, it has a negative effect on our language knowledge. People may mix these Internet slangs with formal language when doing business or interacting with others, which can lead to serious issues. In addition, people nowadays have less etiquette when interacting with social media. Compared with social media, face-to-face conversations require more communication skills to communicate with others in a courteous way.
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The relationships between people have been changed from intimate to indifferent because of social media. Instead of spending time in person with friends, people prefer to communicate via social media nowadays. After getting used to communicating by screen, people become nervous or stressful when talking with others face-to-face. However, it’s essential to use nonverbal language when conversation. Through facial expressions, the tone we speak and body language we show allows us to get close to others easily. On the contrary, it’s hard to know a person only via social media. If we only use social media to communicate, the world will be indifferent and unfriendly ultimately.
Face-to-face conversations and social media have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, while using social media is convenient. On the contrast, face-to-face conversations can get immediate responses, express feelings with nonverbal communication, and be more intimate with others in interpersonal relationships. To sum up, each face-to-face conversation and social media has its own weaknesses and strengthens. Which communication way is better? The answer is, "No, it depends on you."
References
The Business Communication .What is face-to-face conversation? Advantages and disadvantages. Retrieved from:
https://thebusinesscommunication.com/what-is-face-to-face-conversation/
Glenn Stok. (December 18, 2018). Face-to-Face Conversation Is Important for Success. Retrieved from:
https://toughnickel.com/business/How-to-Have-a-Meaningful-Face-to-Face-Conversation
Final Inquiry Project. (DECEMBER 1, 2015). The Negative Impacts of Social Media on Face-to-Face Interactions. Retrieved from:
https://rampages.us/peasedn200/2015/12/01/final-inquiry-project/
Hanke, S. (2018). How Social Media Affects Our Ability to Communicate. Retrieved from:
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/how-social-media-affects-our-ability-to-communicate/
